Would you choose dried flowers for your big day?  You would be right at the forefront of this current trend that looks like lasting for a while. To help you consider dried flowers rather than silk wedding flowers or fresh wedding flowers for your nuptials,I have gathered some pros and cons when choosing and using dried flowers for your wedding.

Choosing dried wedding flowers

1. Peace of mind. Your florist can guarantee to deliver the flowers and even drop them a day ahead giving you time for some great wedding photo shoots.
2. You do not  have to pick in season flowers
3. There are a great variety of dried flowers, grasses, seed heads and foliages out there at the moment.  You can find  local suppliers and  good florists that  are even drying their own special flowers.
4. Bleached and dyed varieties extend the colour range.
5. You can take the designs  home after the big day to enjoy and show off.
6. Buttonholes and head pieces are extra light when made with dried material so easy to wear. Same generally  for dried bouquets.
   

Problems with using dried flowers:

1. They can be brittle and tend to break  unless handled carefully.  Some plant material is especially dried using treatments  to make it more leathery or soft  and  less brittle.
2. They need a feather duster as they  can gather dust if at home!
3. They can look a little stiff when in bouquets or vases
4. They are no cheaper than a fresh flower bouquet and often are more expensive due to the need to treat and dry stems
5. The quantity of dried material required  for a wedding bouquet can be large as many dried flowers are small. This will impact on the cost.

  Silk v dried flowers?
Another alternative is silk flowers. I have had requests from some brides looking at artificial or silk flowers as a long-lasting post Covid answer but I think dried real flowers are a good alternative because silk flowers nearly always look fake and always cost quite a lot more per stem than the corresponding fresh flower. Only if a particular flower is not in season or if you must have a delicate flower like a poppy that has a short life once cut, then an artificial flower comes into its own.
Also, you do not get a scent with artificial flowers whereas you can with dried flowers if you choose wisely.  Silk flowers can be  heavy with all the wire and are  not biodegradable like fresh or dried flowers.

How to include dried flowers in your wedding
I prefer to take the middle ground and incorporate  the dried with fresh in bouquets rather than do just  100 per cent dried  posies although I do like the particular dried wedding posy that I made and  is the photo taken for this blog! May be it all depends on getting the right balance of colours and shapes in the end, something that you choose a professional florist for.. Bleached foliage and dark stems can look stunning when set against fresh roses for instance.
Your choice.

The fashion for dried flowers is not stopping! Today I am considering the loveliest, easiest plants out there that can be grown by you for cutting and drying. Now is the time to get out there and gather. Part 2 is all about dried flowers for weddings and bouquets and in part 3 flower lists for commercially prepped materials that enhance the design vase or bouquet. Rounding off with top tips for looking after dried flowers in part 4..So much to come!

Before we get down to that remember that if you have bought some cut flowers you can often just try letting them dry naturally to see what happens. It is amazing how many flower types will dry if it is warm and dry where they are placed. So, don’t be too speedy at tidying away that gift vase of flowers and foliage. Wait to see what dries well!

Easy flower drying  tips:
To air dry most cut flowers you just suspend the bunch upside down so they dry straight or simply put an inch of water in a vase and let the water disappear. Let them dry in a warm, dry space out of direct sunlight. Avoid dampness at all cost.
Cut your flowers just before they are fully open as they often continue to open once cut and leave a long stem so they can be tied up once dry.
If you leave it too late  to pick they can go to fluff or shed  petals. I once cut  some bulrush heads, left them overnight and came down the next day to a room full of fluffy seeds!  Try a squirt of hairspray  to mitigate this.

Easiest larger flowers to cut for drying:

• Hydrangeas-cut in late summer once hardened off and stand in shallow water
  
• Sunflowers- hang upside down
  
• Peonies-  you can steam dried petals with a kettle or steamer to unruffle very dried heads 
  
• Larkspur or delphinium- dry with intense colour
  
• Roses- try stronger colours as the pale ones  tend to dry grey
  

Easiest smaller flowers for cutting and drying:

• Gypsophila- baby's breath. A million little flower blobs in white or palest pink
• Limonium or statice- sea lavender. Pink and purply pastels , also yellows and white.  
• Lavender- need I say more! Just remeber to pick more than you think you need  as they are very slender
• Achillea - yarrow with a flat topped head esp in yellow
• Helichrysum bractaetum or ‘Xerochrysum’ (so confusing when they change the name!)- straw flower has papery petals on a round face . Especially in warmer colours. Grow from a packet of seed
• Acroclinium- an Australian native plant that dries like a Xerochrysum
• Anaphalis margaritacea- the pearly everlasting plant with tiny pearls of white flower clusters on top of a stem about a foot long
• Helichrysum italicum -sulphur yellow flower clusters
• Helichrysum amorginum-‘Ruby cluster’ with pinky red flowers

All of these like a sunny spot. All the Helichrysum have lance shaped leaves with a woolly or grey appearance and are not that big a plant or flower, so work best as a filler material in a flower design.

Easiest seed heads and grasses for cutting and drying:
Nigella- round  seed pods with curly bits are lovely
Poppy- a usefull weed!
Pampas grass- silky plumes of loveliness. Just check the final size of a plant as some are massive
Lunaria- honesty moon discs dry well
Cotinus- smoke bush has smoky froth in the autumn when the large shrub is a blazeof colour. Fab

Easiest foliage  to cut and dry:
When it comes to leaves they all tend to curl up a bit if left to air dry and become brittle. Best to try standing cut stems in one part glycerine with three parts hot water for a week or two. The glycerine is taken into the veins and stops the plant getting too dry. The leaf colour will change but the final result is very long lasting. In terms of types of foliage I always go by the 'feel test'. If the leaf  feels leathery or tough then odds are that it will dry for you beautifully eg Hedera helix or British ivy, x cyparis , conifer  and Euonymus are common examples. Eucalyptus contains the  oily gum that also helps to preserve it well.

So give  cutting and drying a go! Plant a few 'everlasting flowers' for now and the future.

X Helen at Verdila